GE opens first Advanced Manufacturing facility in South Carolina

GE has celebrated the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) in Greenville following the opening of its first additive manufacturing centre in Pittsburgh earlier this month.

GE Power has invested $73 million in the facility to date and will invest another $327 million across the GE Power Greenville campus over the next few years, creating at least 80 engineering and manufacturing jobs in the process.

GE Power President and CEO Steve Bolze was joined by South Carolina elected leaders for the grand opening of the 125,000-square-foot facility at GE’s Greenville manufacturing campus.

“GE is leading the transformation of manufacturing in the power industry, and this facility will ignite the digital industrial revolution for our company and the industry,” Bolze, commented. “The opening of the AMW is a pivotal moment for us. We’re building a skilled workforce and culture that’s devoted to delivering breakthrough innovations that deliver better, faster outcomes for our customers and unlock new productivity and growth.”

The AMW is GE Power’s first advanced manufacturing facility. The facility will revolutionise the way GE Power designs, creates and improves products by serving as an incubator for the development of advanced manufacturing processes and rapid prototyping of new parts for GE’s energy businesses—Power, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas and Energy Connections. GE’s advanced manufacturing focus will include additive manufacturing, automation and advanced software platforms to transform every aspect of the production process.

Recent research found that nearly 24 million people are already employed in advanced manufacturing industries in the U.S., creating about 19 percent of GDP, and that each job in an advanced manufacturing industry supports another 3.5 jobs through the supply chain.

The opening of GE's additive manufacturing facility in Pittsburgh this month represents an additional $39 million investment in advanced manufacturing technologies and will act as the company's the flagship centre for additive manufacturing, focused on developing and implementing industrial applications from which all GE businesses.

GE started in Greenville more than 40 years ago with a 340,000-square-foot site. With the latest addition of the AMW, the site has grown close to 1.7 million square feet of factories, offices and laboratories focused on manufacturing advanced products for customers worldwide. GE has more than 3,200 employees in Greenville and has invested more than $500 million in the last five years to bolster critical manufacturing activities housed on the campus.